Fodor's Expert Review Museu Picasso

The Picasso Museum is housed in five adjoining 13th- to 15th-century palaces on Carrer Montcada, a street known for Barcelona's most elegant medieval mansions. Picasso spent his formative years in Barcelona (1895–1904), and this collection, while it does not include a significant number of his best paintings, is particularly strong on his early work. The museum was begun in 1962 on the suggestion of Picasso's crony Jaume Sabartés, and the initial donation was from the Sabartés collection. Later Picasso donated his early works, and in 1981 his widow, Jacqueline Roque, added 141 pieces.

Highlights

Displays include childhood sketches, works from the artist's Rose and Blue periods, and the famous 1950s cubist variations on Velázquez's Las Meninas (in Rooms 22–26). The lower-floor sketches, oils, and schoolboy caricatures from Picasso's early years in A Coruña are perhaps the most fascinating part of the whole museum, showing the facility he seemed to possess from birth. His La Primera Communión (First Communion), painted at the age of 16, gives an idea of his early accomplishments. On the second floor you see the beginnings of the mature Picasso and his Blue Period in Paris.

Tips

Expect long lines on days that offer free admission.

All other days, buy tickets for specific times online in advance.

Stop at the terrace café and restaurant for a light Mediterranean meal to break up the day.